March 10 (Bloomberg) -- The services of West Point
commander Benedict Arnold did not come cheap.

(To listen to the podcast, click here.)

On July 15, 1780 he wrote a coded letter to spymaster Major
John Andre demanding 20,000 pounds sterling for turning over
West Point and its garrison to the British commander in chief,
Sir Henry Clinton. He also wanted 10,000 pounds in case of loss
and 100 pounds per year for life.

At a meeting with Andre, who arrived from New York City on
the British sloop Vulture, Arnold gave him the plans of West
Point, the placement of troops and other sensitive information.

Meanwhile, American forces bombarded the Vulture, forcing
the ship to sail off. To return to New York, Andre now had to go
overland through enemy-held territory. A trio of militia men
stopped and searched him, finding the documents in his boots.

Andre was later hanged as a spy, but Arnold fled downriver
to the Vulture and successfully defected to the British, who
gave him a military commission, land in Canada and pensions for
his family.

I spoke with John A. Nagy, author of “Invisible Ink:
American Spycraft of the American Revolution,” on the following
topics:

1. Revolutionary War Spies

2. Inks, Codes and Ciphers

3. Double Agents

4. Arnold’s Military Successes

5. Arnold’s Treachery

To buy this book in North America, click here.

(Lewis Lapham is the founder of Lapham’s Quarterly and the
former editor of Harper’s magazine. He hosts “The World in
Time” interview series for Bloomberg News.)